Punjab puts up its defence on SYL issue to Centre

New Delhi, April 20: With the Supreme Court closely monitoring developments on the Sutlej-Yamu Link (SYL) cal, the Punjab government on Thursday apprised the Centre of the critical water situation in the state to stress its ibility to share water with its neighbouring states. The Punjab government has urged the rendra Modi government at the Centre to intervene in the SYL cal matter “to save Punjab from an ecological disaster”. Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and other senior officers met Union Ministry of Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh here to convey Punjab’s stand on the SYL issue, which is currently pending in the Supreme Court. The case is next scheduled to come up for hearing in the apex court on April 27. At the last hearing, the central government had sought deferment in view of the April 20 meeting convened by it to resolve the issue festering between Harya and Punjab for the past several decades. The Supreme Court, in November last year, had ruled in favour of Harya on the water sharing issue through SYL cal. The newly installed Congress government in Punjab had also sought time from the Supreme Court to prepare its case.  The Punjab government has urged the Centre “to take steps to prevent monsoon run-off to Pakistan and ensure that every extra drop of water is allowed to be used by Punjab”, a Punjab government spokesperson said. Pointing out that Punjab did not have surplus water to share, the delegation urged the central government to come up with a realistic solution to the problem, keeping the state’s water scarcity in view. “With only 28 per cent of its land cal-irrigated and the rest dependent on tubewells, Punjab was in urgent need of expansion of its cal system to prevent the water crisis in the state from aggravating to devastating levels,” the delegation told the Union Secretary. (IANS)

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